Geographical Range: The Panther Chameleon lives in the northern and coastal
areas of Madagascar.

Habitat: The Chameleon
lives in the forest areas and sometimes in the rain forest. It lives
mostly in the coastal lowlands where it is warm and humid. The temperature
range is from 72-83 degrees Farenhieght and the humidity range is from
70-100%. They like to be off the ground, up in the trees and bushes.

Diet in the Wild: insects, small birds, and other reptiles

Diet in the Zoo:
crickets and beetle larva dusted with
calcium- In captivity the adults may eat every other day. The babies will
eat daily. Their diet can also consist of moths and grasshoppers for adults,
and wax worms, meal worm, and fruit flies for the babies.

Conservation Status:Not protected.

Location in the Zoo:Herpetarium

Physical
Description:

Males are much larger
than females. Chameleon's colors vary greatly from one another.
The colors include all the colors of the rainbow. Females usually turn
brown and gray. The females warn males to stay away by turning dark
with orange spots. Adult males are 12-17” in length. Females are
7-9”.

The chameleon's body is flattened from side to side.
Their legs project to the side and to the back of them.
Their legs are also specially jointed so that all four feet can easily
grasp a branch located below their body.

The chameleon's
head has a hard shaped helmet that helps protect it. Their eyes
extend out of their head and are covered with scaly skin. Both
eyes can turn on their own to look in different directions at the same
time. Vision is more important to the chameleon than their sense of
smell. They're main defense mechanisms is visual cues.

The chameleons tails are prehensile, which means that they
can use their tails to grab things. The tails are sometimes curled.
Also, the tail provides additional support for catching prey.

The feet of the chameleon are V-shaped and perfect for grabbing
branches. On the front two feet each one has two toes on the outside
and three toes on the inside. On the hind feet there are three
toes on the outside and two toes on the inside. By the toes being
specailly positioned, they assist greatly in balancing. Their tongue is very special that helps them
catch their food. It is very long and has a sticky tip. The tongue
is folded on the tip of a bone that helps supports it. Then the
tongue shots off the bone, like a catapult, to catch its prey.
The chameleon catches its prey the same way a frog catches it's food.
The length of the tongue is greater than the whole chameleons body.

Social
Organization:

Sexes are
separated both physically and visually, except for mating. To
see another Chameleon stresses them out too badly.

General Information:

The chameleons live two to three years in the wild.
In captivity they can live five to seven years depending on how well
they are taken care of.

Chameleons, in captivity, most
likely will not drink out of a bowl of water. The chameleon
needs to see moving water to actually drink it. Therefore, it
can easily dehydrate which would result in kidney failure and in the
end he would die. The chameleon prefers to lick the dew off
of the leaves in the early morning or catch drops of rain dripping
down their faces. But he can drown easily because he breathes through
a hole in the bottom of its mouth.

The chameleon never sheds, and
they move very slowly. When a chameleon is moving fast he hardly
takes a dozen steps a minute. He rocks back and forth on a branch
and then finally moves one leg.

A Female Chameleon
that is puffing up and warning predators to stay away.

Reproductive Behavior:

When the male chameleon wants to
attract a mate he bobs his head up and down and from side to side
to get her attention. If a female wants to mate she will display
dull colors, and if the she does not want to mate, her colors will
warn him to stay away.

The females will lay eggs, which is oviparous, and she buries them under the dirt and leaves. The females really
only visit the ground to lay eggs or to look for a mate. Females lay
about thirty eggs after 30-45 days of being fertilized. Incubation
last 160-362 days, depending on the temperature. If the eggs
stay at a stable temperature they may not hatch. It takes 7-9 months
for the eggs to hatch. She does not teach her young how to hunt or
how to survive. The babies can reach sexual maturity in just one year.
The babies shed colors quickly. Juvenile chameleons take 5-10 months
to get their color.

A male (blue) and
Female (brown)

Special
Adaptations:

The misconception
of chameleons is that they change color to match their background.
The color change is actually determined by environmental factors, such
as light and temperature. The color change is also controlled
by their emotions, such as fright, victory, or defeat in battle.
The color change is rapid and increases when it is handled, injured,
or approached by another chameleon. Chameleons have bright colors and
patterns to warn other chameleons to stay away. The chameleons
have pigment granules that contain color pigment and these pigments
disperse, which gives them their color.

When the chameleons
fight they do not always attack. They have a color-changing contest.
The chameleon puffs itself up and opens their mouths wide. But if the
chameleon gets hurt or afraid they will turn darker
color and show more complicated patterns. The dominant male protects
their territory by expanding the body, puffing out the throat, and waving
special head flaps. If he fails to scare the intruder, the attacker
will charge and it can snap his jaws because his mouth was so tightly
opened.

They can also use their color change to help change their
temperature. The chameleons can do this because they are cold-blooded
animals and they need this special adaptation to keep themselves warm.
When they want to warm up he moves into the sun and he turns darker
so that the color will soak up the sun's heat.

The
Animal at the Zoo:When observing the panther chameleon, he stayed very still
the whole time. He was up high and close to the light at the
top of the cage. The light is a good source of heat to help warm
him up. He was perched up on a branch, just looking at his surroundings.